Vint HillVillage, LLC is proving it is serious about growing small business in the community. In partnership with the Fauquier County Department of Economic Development and Lord Fairfax Community College’s Vint Hill site, Vint Hill Village, LLC has provided the space for a Fauquier Enterprise Center.

FEC-Vint Hill is Fauquier County’s third business incubator, with a Mason Enterprise Center in Warrenton and another FEC in Marshall. The latter opened this past October.

“It’s exciting to have the opportunity to grow small businesses here,” said Vint Hill’s CEO and President Ed Moore. “We have been working diligently over the past couple of years to improve Vint Hill—from infrastructure to beautification—and it’s fulfilling to offer that to those who will become its future.”

The immediate success of the Mason Enterprise Center on Main Street in Warrenton did well to convince the Fauquier Department of Economic Development and the Board of County Supervisors that there is a real need and an opportunity for such centers in the county.

“We are very pleased to be able to open this newest addition to our support services for Fauquier businesses, and it is a special program, made possible by the partnership with and contribution from Vint Hill Village, LLC,” Economic Development Director Miles Friedman said. “We look forward to making this a center of excellence for business innovation.”

Managing the opening and marketing of FEC-Vint Hill and FEC-Marshall is Jennifer Goldman of Resonance, LLC. Previously the Executive Director of the Partnership for Warrenton Foundation, Goldman has a close working relationship with the Department of Economic Development. She was contracted by them in September to provide support to both enterprise centers.

Currently the home of small businesses like KRT Signage, Green Maple Market, and Allen Wayne, Ltd., Vint Hill Village, LLC has demonstrated strong support for the county’s initiative to assist small businesses. In fact, the LLC is donating the FEC-Vint Hill site for county use as a business incubator for the next three years and is currently renovating the site at its own expense.

The Board of Supervisors allocated $100,000 to cover the first year of operating costs for both enterprise centers, and both the Fauquier County and Vint Hill EDAs have also contributed funding to the effort to launch these business accelerators.

“It’s our hope that the accelerator will be extremely useful to small businesses who might consider putting down roots in Vint Hill,” said Moore, “I know Jennifer [Goldman] is going to be very busy building programs, a budget and a strategic plan to ensure the center becomes a successful, self-sustaining entity.”

Over the next year, Goldman’s goal is to fill the centers with small business owners who are just starting or who find themselves in a growth phase and are in need of assistance. FEC-Vint Hill has eight offices with Internet/WiFi that will be available for lease as well as a large co-working space and other services.

“The Fauquier Enterprise Centers will be a tremendous benefit to local small businesses,” said Goldman. “Not only do they offer small, startup, struggling and growing companies a professional setting at affordable rates, but they also provide services that assist owners in planning for the future health and growth of their businesses.”

By assisting small businesses, “we strengthen our local community and economy,” said Goldman.

On November 17 from 4-6 p.m., the county department and LFCC-Vint Hill co-hosted a ribbon cutting and open house event for new business incubator, located on 4137 Weeks Drive.

Learn more about FEC-Vint Hill on Facebook or contact the center at (571) 285-7273.